In the coloration of a liquid composition designed for application to surfaces and drying thereon, it is essential that the pigment should be finely divided and uniformly distributed throughout the liquid composition so that there will be no serious defects caused by incomplete dispersion of the pigment, such as visible specks of undispersed pigment, poor gloss, low tinting strength and impaired film properties. In order to obtain satisfactory dispersion of pigment, in aqueous-based coating compositions, the paint or ink manufacturer has had to resort to grinding the pigment into the system in order to disperse the pigment particles thoroughly. During the normal processes of pigment manufacture, isolation by filtration, drying and milling, pigment particles have a tendency to agglomerate, and their subsequent redispersion can prove difficult and time consuming.